Saturday, February 2, 2008

A 'Caning' for the Kelowna Rockets

It's a practice seen only in Singapore, but Kelowna Rockets fans saw the home team caned Friday night, no not by a bamboo stick but by a Lethbridge Hurricanes hockey stick. The Canes received the start they needed from their number one line just 30 seconds into the game, as Mitch Fadden, Zach Boychuk and Colton Sceviour set the tempo with a great first shift, and sent a message to the Rockets that they were in for a long night. The Fadden, Boychuk, Sceviour line combined for 9 points. Boychuk, of Canadian World Junior gold medalist fame, had 2 goals and 2 assists.

The Kelowna Rockets picked an inoppertune time to put in a bad effort. The Lethbridge Hurricanes, one of the hottest teams in the WHL with points now in 12 of their last 13 games, made the most of their chances and pumelled the Rockets 9-4. The loss snapped the Rockets 8 game home ice winning streak. What's interesting is the Rockets gave up just 11 goals during the 8 game winning streak. On this night they gave up 9 goals in just one game.

The Rockets have given up 9 goals before on home ice, but only once at Prospera Place up until Friday night. The Rockets were a 9-6 loser on home ice to Spokane January 31/02. The Rockets also fell 9-7 to Prince George at home, November 29/97. What's the worst home ice loss for the Rockets in recent memory? The Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Rockets 10-4 back on December 27, 1996. That game was played at the old Memorial Arena.

Sixteen year-old Tyson Barrie was the only Rockets defenseman not in the minus after this one. Barrie was even in the game, and collected two assists. Veterans Tysen Dowzak and Luke Schenn were responsible in attempting to keep the Hurricanes top line in check, but ended up being a combined -6. The Rockets defensive core was a combined -10.

Starting goaltender Torrie Jung gave up 3 goals on three shots before being yanked by head coach Ryan Huska. Veteran Kristofer Westblom didn't fair much better giving up 6 goals on 20 shots. Huska says despite Jung's efforts, he will likely be given the start Saturday in Chilliwack.

Lucas Bloodoff was a minus 3 in the game, yet snapped out of an 11 game goal scoring drought with a pair of goals.

Many have suggested this was a preview of what could be next years WHL final. Clearly the Hurricanes are still a year away from being the team to beat, while the Rockets are still a year away from contending for a league title. Both teams have 7 players - 18 years of age. If that is indeed the case, lets hope the series isn't as lopsided as last night's affair.

It's nice to see the Hurricanes near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Bottom line is, they are do. The Hurricanes haven't won a league title since 1996-97. Since that championship season, the Hurricanes have missed the playoffs 3 times and have been a first round casualty 6 times.

The Hurricanes have out-scored their BC division opponents 30-10 on this road trip. The Hurricanes have beaten the Rockets 9-4, Kamloops 8-1, Chilliwack 3-2 in a shootout and Prince George 9-0. The only loss was to Vancouver, 3-1.

1 comment:

The only thing that got me in this game was the lack of emotion. After 3 goals someone should have stepped to the plate to try and turn things around. We needed a guy like McEwan. A leader who could play his roll and get the guys back on track.

Which Kelowna Rockets will make Team Canada?

Who will win the BC Division this season?

World Gym Kelowna/West Kelowna

Regan Bartel

Will Cal Foote and Kole Lind be taken in the first round of the NHL draft?

About Me

Bartel is a radio broadcaster for the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League. Bartel is enjoying his 26th year in the radio broadcast industry, spending 13 years at CKSW in Swift Current before moving to AM 1150 in Kelowna in the summer of 2000. Having called the play-by-play for the Swift Current Broncos and Kelowna Rockets, Bartel has called games at five Memorial Cups (2003,04,05,09, 2015), the CHL Top Prospects Game (2012) and the Canada-Russia Subway Super Series (2009). To listen to audio, just type audio in the window at the top left of the screen.